UK show organiser Brintex has dropped the spirits exhibition Distil from the 2014 London Wine Fair as part of a set of changes and a renewed focus on wine and the UK market.

Champagne sales to the UK were down 5.1% in volume and 3.8% in value last year.

English Wine Producers (EWP) has launched new branding for this year’s English Wine Week which takes place from May 24 to June 1.

Accolade Wines has annoucned that it has finalised the purchase of Mud House and Waipara Hills and their assets, from the Mud House Wine Group.

Martini has announced that the brand is to sponsor Vector, the British powerboat racing team and global manufacturer of high performance powerboats and performance yachts.

Australia’s wine industry hit the wall in 2013, after 30 years of surging growth, according to the The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Directory (WID).

Sparkling wine specialist Tom Stevenson has said his new tasting event will become “the Oscars” of the Champagne and sparkling wine category when medals are awarded in September 2014.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild has appointed Stevens Garnier UK off-trade distributor for its Mouton Cadet and wines from Bordeaux and the Languedoc.

Kingsland Wine & Spirits has appointed former HwCg md Guy Young as commercial director.

An survey of 6,000 consumers, by IPSOS* to discover consumer preferences on wine and spirit closures claims the majority prefer an aluminium closure, over other closure options.

Drinks International has teamed up with show organiser Messe Düsseldorf to publish an extensive preview magazine of ProWein 2014, the German wine and spirits show that is now in its 20th year.

Torres has been voted the World's Most Admired Wine Brand for 2014.

Scandinavians are now drinking more Italian wine then wine from any other country, according to Wine Intelligence.

Martini and Williams have today announced a multi-year partnership to create the new Formula One team Williams Martini Racing.

Moët Hennessy is rolling out its Chandon sparkling wine concept to the UK from May.

The inaugural AfrAsia Bank Cape Wine Auction 2014 (AfrABCWA), regarded by the organisers as possibly the most extraordinary international wine event ever seen in South Africa, will set a local philanthropic precedent.

The date and timings of the memorial service to celebrate the life of Michael Cox, the former European head of Wines of Chile who died on March 20, will take place on April 10.

US wine exports, 90% from California, reached a record high $1.55 billion in winery revenues in 2013, up 16.4% compared to the previous year, according to the Wine Institute of California.

The Napa Valley Vintners' (NVV) 18th annual Premiere Napa Valley made history by bringing in a total of $5.9 million, nearly doubling the previous record of $3.1m raised in 2012.

Chilean wine producer Vina Cono Sur is to be the solo wine sponsor at the Tour de France 2014 for its 3 opening stages in the UK.

Michael Cox, a well known figure in the UK wine and spirits trade and latterly European director at Wines of Chile, has died.

The Consejo Regulador of Rioja (Wines from Rioja) has announced that Rioja sales have reached 277 million litres in 2013, surpassing the all-time record set before the global economic downturn.

French-speaking Canadians are becoming more open-minded about drinking their country’s domestic wines, according to Wine Intelligence research.

The Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg consortium has launched its website in Chinese.

Marian Kopp has been recruited by German wine cooperative Lauffener Weingärtner as its president and managing director

The New Zealand owned winery has bought a 41-hectare property in the sought-after Gimblett Gravels sub-region in Hawkes Bay.

For the latest instalment of the Brands Report, we quizzed the class of 2013 on the Champagne brands moving through their bars.

Vinexpo Bordeaux “should be the Cannes Film Festival of the drinks world”, according to the wine show’s CEO Guillaume Deglise.

China, including Hong Kong, is now the largest market for red wine, according to a survey commissioned by Vinexpo the Bordeaux-based exhibition company.

Claude Chevalier and Louis-Fabrice Latour are the new president and co-president of the Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB), the generic body representing the Burgundy wine region.

The Wine & Spirit Education Trust's international Wine Educator of the Year is the Asia Wine Service & Education Centre, Hong Kong (AWSEC).

Two Paddocks, the New Zealand wine producer owned by actor, Sam Neill, has bought a fourth vineyard, this one in Bannockburn.

Espaco Porto Cruz, the multimedia exhibition for contemporary Portuguese culture by young artists, has won the Best of Wine Tourism Award for the area of Porto, Portugal.

The Napa Valley Vintners (NVV) has announced that it has secured certification mark protection for the Napa valley wine region in both Australia and Taiwan.

John Ratcliffe, the former head of Seagram UK and a driving force behind the once innovative specialist UK off licence chain, Oddbins, has been appointed CEO of Accolade Wines.

Global warming will “turn the sparkling wine world upside down”, turning the style from a northern to a southern hemisphere product, according to Dr Richard Smart.

Champagne houses and supermarkets must take equal responsibility for overly discounted Champagne in the UK, according to Nicolas Feuillatte's commercial director.

The Indian wine market is “bewildering” “frustrating” and “political” but also a “huge opportunity” for wine producers, says a panel of leading experts.

Wine sales growth in China can be found if the country's drinking culture, diverse regions and consumer groups are better understood and if e-commerce is utilised, according to Chinese industry professionals.

Opportunities for wine sales in South Africa will be limited until black consumers start to drink more wine, according to a panel of South African wine industry experts.

Viña Concha y Toro, Chile’s leading wine producer, was named as one of the top three organisations contributing to managing climate change at the annual Chilean ‘Leading Companies in Climate Change Management Awards’. 

The US West Coast wine regions of California, Oregon and Washington State are to collaborate in 2014 for their UK annual tastings. 

Accolade Wines has announced it will buy New Zealand brands Mud House and Waipara Hills from the Mud House Wine Group.

Piper-Heidsieck unveiled its 2006 vintage to the UK market yesterday.

Drinks International has launched the third edition of the Wine Tourism Awards, the global competition that recognises excellence, innovation and creativity in the booming wine tourism sector.

The Fat Duck’s Loic Avril has been named Chaîne des Rôtisseurs 2013 International Young Sommelier of the Year.

Winemakers in parts of the Roussillon are facing up to a diminished 2013 vintage after wild boar and Spring-time deluges took a large bite out of their grape yield.

Guillaume Deglise has been appointed CEO of Vinexpo, replacing the show’s founder Robert Beynat.

Jackson Estate’s founder John Stichbury and winemaker Matt Patterson Green have claimed Marlborough will emerge as New Zealand’s premier Pinot Noir region, on par, or even ahead of Central Otago.

London’s first ever winery has announced that it has rejected seven tonnes of French grapes due to their poor condition.